Meet Mark

Let me introduce myself. My name is Mark Sisson. I’m 63 years young. I live and work in Malibu, California. In a past life I was a professional marathoner and triathlete. Now my life goal is to help 100 million people get healthy. I started this blog in 2006 to empower people to take full responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life by investigating, discussing, and critically rethinking everything we’ve assumed to be true about health and wellness...

Primal Breakfast Suggestions for People on the Go

The all-American breakfast smorgasbord: cold cereal of every variety (from super colon blow to candy coated balls of sugar in the shape of the latest cartoon fad), toast, toaster strudel, bagels, croissants, donuts, coffee cake, pop-tarts, French toast, pancakes, blintzes, crepes, waffles, muffins, scones, hash browns, oatmeal, breakfast bars, breakfast squares, and now even breakfast “cookies.” (Do tell us what we’re leaving out. We know there has to be something!) We swear you could set the list to that Billy Joel tune. There’s a weekend challenge – anyone?

Whatever way you slice it, just reading the above list is enough to make your insulin rise. What is it about breakfast that is so darn carb-dependent? The most important meal of the day suddenly seems the most irksome, uninspiring, even ominous. You throw open the cabinets and fridge door on your way out, keys in hand. “What am I going to eat???” Too many of us end up just closing the cabinets with a frustrated, rushed muttering of expletives as we grab our bags and finally go. There’s a great way to start the day. (Just think: you get to sit through the morning meeting staring a hole through the gigantic box o’ donuts your supervisor brings every week.)

But what’s a desperate Primal person to do? They need something they can either prepare the night before, grab while running out the door, or prepare on-the-fly in a couple minutes or less. Consider this MDA’s Primal breakfast menu – for those on the go.

The Incredible, Edible Hardboiled Egg!

The hardboiled egg can be the basis for many a meal-on-the-go. Peel, pack and top with a dash of S&P the night before.

And definitely check out reader Joe Matasic’s recipe for what sounds like a delicious (and hearty) full size omelet.

Breakfast Salad

Get a heaping serving of veggies along with some major protein. Add wedges of hardboiled egg and shredded bacon to fresh spinach leaves. Throw in some apple slices or nuts if you want. Store the night before in small sealed bowl. The next morning top it off with some olive oil and vinegar.

Smoothie

Throw a cup of Greek style yogurt, a handful of berries, a half a banana, ¼ cup coconut milk and some ice in a blender and mix! Add a tablespoon or two of flax seed for some healthy omega-3s.

Fruit and Nut Plate – Plus!

Throw in some walnuts, almonds and slices of avocado for fat and protein. For more fat, protein and flavor, add a side of cottage cheese or some whipped cream cheese for dipping (perhaps naturally flavored with some pureed strawberries).

Lovely, Lovely Lox

Get a jump on the day’s omega-3s by enjoying a little lox in the a.m. Instead of the traditional bagel action, down it as is (background chanting included), spread it with the obligatory cream cheese on cucumber slices, or throw it in a quick egg scramble with some chopped chive.

Primal Fuel Shake

Another modest breakfast proposal. One we’d be remiss to not mention since Mark and all Worker Bees drink this stuff like it is going out of style. We promise it’s a winner and the ultimate grab and go option. Loaded with protein and flavor, we think it holds its own in the menu line up. Run 2-3 scoops with some ice through the blender. Add berries or nut butter to make it your own designer creation. Dark Chocolate is our best-seller, but Vanilla Creme works a bit better with fruit additions.

Caprese Salad

Simple as pie. All you have to do is make sure you have fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella, and some ripe tomatoes on hand. Slice, layer and top with salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil and some balsamic vinegar. To add some meat to the mix, a side of tuna salad is a great accompaniment.

Leftovers

Don’t let last night’s dinner leftovers go to waste. Eating “dinner food” for breakfast can take some getting use to, but with a little practice “dinner food” and “breakfast food” just become Primal food.

Once you learn to appreciate all types of food for breakfast you may find yourself cooking a little extra the night before to make eating on-the-go that much easier. Grill an extra chicken breast or salmon fillet, steam or sautee a few more veggies and toss it all in a bowl to make breakfast a cinch.

One last note: We understand that people are busier than ever. With that said, many proper breakfast recipes (scramble some eggs, cook up some bacon etc.) don’t really take all that long to prep and cook. Getting out of bed 10 or 15 minutes earlier could be the difference between a handful of nuts for breakfast and something much more satisfying.

All these recipes are just the tip of the iceberg. We know there are many ways to breakfast Primal-style. Anyone? Additional suggestions for the menu? In the meantime, enjoy!

Thank you, these are all fabulous breakfast ideas! I will have to try making some crustless quiches soon.

Variation on the delicious lox:
Take lox, thinly sliced red onion, cream cheese, capers. Place all onto large, pre-cut lettuce leaves (romaine or red leaf works), and roll into little burritos.
These can be made the night before and taken with you to eat during the morning commute, if you take a train, bus, etc. If you’re having them with onions, I recommend taking along some sugarfree mints or gum 🙂

And also–Deviled Eggs. I haven’t made these in some time, but have just realized they’d make a great breakfast to be made ahead of time.
I like to go easy on the mayo, instead adding some other ingredients for bulk. For example, finely chop and saute (in butter) mushrooms, onions and spinach. Add to the egg yolk and mayo mixture prior to stuffing the whites.

I can’t really have dairy in the morning because it is too insulinogenic. Even if I go low-carb, dairy just gives me massive hypoglycaemia about 30-40 minutes after ingestion, especially first thing in the morning!

Everything I see about soy these days is that it is a nonfood and something we should not be eating. It is promoted as a health food because it is good for the soy business community but not only is it not a health food, it isn’t a food at all. When the traditional Asians at soy it was always fermented and so if you are going to eat soy it should only be small amounts of fermented soy. Read the book, “The Whole Soy Story” for more details. Try using almond milk instead.

So true Brenda! Everyone has always looked at me like I have three heads when I say that ‘soy product’ is ‘junk food for the healthfoodies’. Often times soy cheese and other frankinfoods are honestly more processed than american cheese they put on hamburgers in those horrible burger joints. Blech!

Can you elaborate (or suggest a link) for me to read more about this? I have been surprised that eating greek yogurt makes impacts me the way it does. Am surprised given the protein content that it gets into BS this quickly – but I think you are on to something, because it makes me practically pass out/fall asleep

I have been making eggs and bacon with a fruit smoothy (just berries, nuts and water) for breakfast for the last six months. Its my fav meal everyday and it takes me an extra 15 minutes to cook and eat. I highly recommend taking the time to cook a good breakfast.

or just buy shakeology from beachbody. Add your own fruit, almond butter, and almond milk and its the healthiest, ,most satisfying meal of the day. Though its could be the sole item from breakfast, i also eat 4 eggs with salsa, and bacon.

Breakfast is tough, so suggestions like this are a huge help. Smoothie and eggs and bacon this mornin it is!

So far, one week in to the “as if” challenge and I have dropped 2.8 lbs. Was tough to stay strong with the 4th and the nations greatest holiday, my birthday (LOL) but I only faltered once (my wife’s homemade vanilla ice cream). Woo, on to week 2!

I chuckle when people tell me they are “going primal” and eating more eggs…but then tell me they are only eating the egg-whites. Of course, I tell them they are missing the point entirely. The yolks are the best part (both from a health and a taste POV). In fact, I just finished a four-egg omelette with cheese, avocado, sour cream and a few veggies. How can anyone eating PB-style complain about a short list of breakfast items after this post?

Thanks for the suggestions, I got the stuff to make those quiches today!

I usually skip breakfast (halfass IFing, I guess), but when I do need something quick I often grab one of those little packs of tuna. It takes five minutes to toss in some other stuff (celery, cucumber, capers, spinach, boiled eggs, whatever will work) and mix it together with olive oil & vinegar.

Even as a kid I had no problem eating “dinner” food for breakfast (I LOVED leftover pot roast before school), so tuna for breakfast is fine for me.

That greek yogurt “fage” is made up of mostly protien. I dont know if its “primal” acceptable, but its lower in carbs than your average yogurt. Very delicious with some berries, nuts, and a little vanilla extract (a pure vanilla extract with no sugar added).

There’s no requirement to eat anything before or after a workout. Exercising in a fasted state can prompt fat-burning, and waiting an hour or two to eat afterwards can promote growth hormone secretion. That doesn’t mean you can’t or shouldn’t eat before or right after a morning workout…just that there’s no reason to (as most of the world suspects there is).

My mouth is watering, however, just found out I’m highly allergic to eggs, as well as milk, wheat, tomatoes, and soy. What a bummer. Wondered why I was having diarrhea after eating eggs every day for breakfast! Was told no yogurt or whey, so there goes the smoothie. Wonder if I’d have a reaction to buffalo mozz. I guess I’ll have to try the salad and a protein for breakfast. At least I’m a 2nd shifter, so eat later in the morning. Mark, would peanut butter be a viable choice or should I stick with almonds and walnuts and perhaps an apple?

Use Coconut milk or almond milk for your smoothie. I love using coconut milk, stevia, raw coco powder, some sort of protein powder that you are not allergic to, flax seeds that I grind in a coffee grinder, and crushed ice. You could add frozen fruit instead of the coco powder.

Julie, that IS a bummer. Peanuts are legumes and not high on my list of the best choices…but in your case, it seems that the choices are limited. If you tire of almond butter, almonds, walnuts, etc., it won’t hurt to do the peanut-butter once in a while.

I too have lots of problems with both eggs and cow dairy, and peanuts are something I do not eat. I make my own yogurt with purchased yogurt starter and goat milk. Using a longer fermentation process breaks down the lactose so it ends up being very easy to digest and pretty much lactose free.

I usually don’t want breakfast, and I should switch to eating breakfast – but I can’t have eggs, and I can’t eat berries yet (too hard to digest). I’ve managed to make some concoctions with almond butter and unsweetened applesauce as a stand-in for eggs, and I can eat my goat yogurt, but it’s not terribly portable with the travel I do. I need to come up with something else, I think. 😛

Totally agree! We love a good bone broth, meaty soup for breakfast – and best of all, you can make it up the night before in your slow-cooker, set it to ‘low’ and wake up to steaming hot delicious soup.

I am a freelancer and usually not on the go. I’d love breakfast suggestions for those of who have time to make it every day but unsure of what to eat. Heck, maybe I’ll just do it myself on Primal Eats. Will keep you posted!

I’m surprised no one has mentioned green smoothies. Blend a generous helping of something green and leafy (kale, spinach, etc.), a couple bananas and some water/ice and you get a super nutritious, delicious primal meal.

There are MANY other variations on the green smoothie, of course. Google will show you tons of recipes.

I personally dig the leftover option. I almost always cook too much meat/veggies the night before (on purpose) so that way I can heat them up in a skillet, add some eggs and voila! a delicious breakfast scramble!

Question. Why does your protein/meal replacement supplement have Soy Isolate Protein? Aren’t you against the legumes and soy? And isn’t there a better protein supplement that could perhaps be manufactured, instead of whey which is from dairy, no?

Josh, while I would hope most people would look to real food whenever possible, it’s not always practical. I designed the Responsibly Slim meal replacement product for people who need a quick easy source of protein that tastes great. There are very few on the market. Taste is a huge factor in making such a product. It could be the most natural, ideal product in the world, but if it tasted like crap, no one would buy or use it. So minor compromises are necessary.

Whey is the proven best source of protein for most meal replacement products, so I use mostly whey. (it has long since lost most of its “dairy” properties- ie no lactose or casein). Yes, I am also generally against legumes and soy, but the use of a small amount of soy protein isolate adds a slightly different amino acid profile (improvement)and alters flavor favorably without adding the components of the soy bean that I have problems with (like lectins, phytoestrogens, etc). It’s a perfect example of taking parts of 21st century technology and adapting them to a Primal problem. It ain’t a hunk of grass-fed beef, but it’s better than a McDs 🙂

now then, is “lox” what would be known as smoked salmon? just so i get the right thing!

I always had breakfast traumas doing the atkins diet as really did prefer cereal – but like the cottage cheese idea as our supermarket does a Jersey cream one, not the nasty low fat ones. it is like cream!

i think the “omlette muffins” elsewhere on the site are very cool too – also, try putting a whole egg, spinach and a bit of cream in a ramekin and bake in the oven with a little cheese on top. Gorgeous!

Crustless Quiche sounds great, except for the fact that I’m not only allergic to gluten, but also milk. I have almond milk, but something tells me that won’t be a good substitute in these recipes.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!!

My current favorite breakfast is a grassfed burger patty (beef or lamb) with a dollop of drained yogurt (aka yogurt cheese or greek yogurt) and topped with home made lacto fermented salsa. I like to have some fresh veggies sauteed in coconut oil when I have time, but it’s absolutely not necessary for fuel.

Another quick use of last night’s leftovers is to heat them up in a frying pan. After heated, scoot to one side and scramble an egg. After scrambled, incorporate with the leftovers. This works well with taco meat, chili and Chinese food! Very quick and delicious!

Another idea would be a Scotch egg…Coat a hard-boiled egg with sausage or grassfed ground beef mixed with Italian seasoning or sage, sea salt and pepper. Then sauté in olive oil until the meat is done. These are a great grab-n-go breakfast! Another on-the-go breakfast suggestion would be blueberry muffins made with almond or coconut flour (try looking for recipes at one of the realfoodmedia.com sites). Bon apetito!

I am an anthropologists as well mark and was wondering if shakes can be part of the primal diet. I mean Grok didn’t have a blender at his disposal. On the contrary, I am guilty of using juicers and blenders. I blend lots of raw shakes with greens, fruits and such, but i have some concerns. i know as you cut and blend raw veggies, they become oxidized and you loose viable nutrition. Do you suggest drinking and blending veggies or should i be eating them whole and untouched throughout the day. (oh and by the way, this is my fourth yea studying anthropology and was just thinking of formulating a diet plan and lifestyle that coexists how our ancestors once lived. Thus I typed in Primal and found your amazing website! incredible!)

@Danielle, I use neolithic tools whenever I can! The only issue with “smoothies” is the concentration of sugar that invariably happens when you blend fruits. I’d always rather eat fruits and or veggies whole. Not so concerned about oxidation or viable nutrition. When I do smoothies, they’re generally fat- and protein-based and it’s usually because I’m in a hurry to throw something together.

For years I’ve been experimenting to find the breakfast which gives me the energy to get me through the morning. I’ve found that a banana and mixed berrie shake works well and keeps me going from 0615 to 1100. Ingredience: rice milk or soy milk, banana, mixed berries, blended almonds and an egg. I’ll now try flax seeds and the greek style yoghurt. Thanks Mark.

Just made some mini crustless quiches, with bacon, mushrooms, spinach and goats cheese – yuuuuuuuuuuuuuum!!! Just tried one and oh my word… will be making these on a regular basis 😀 And the smell while they were baking was heavenly… I’m in love! LOL

Thank you for all of the wonderful suggestions. I had been eating bacon (no nitrates or nitrites) and eggs but my ankles were swelling. I stopped the bacon this week and the ankles are better. I think I’m going to try greek yogurt and fruit this week and see how I do.

Because the Primal plan allows for some dairy as long as you tolerate it well. Some people choose to eliminate dairy because they are sensitive to it or to accelerate weight loss, but others do just fine with it. I think that the paleo eating plan calls for wholesale elimination of dairy, maybe that’s what you’re thinking of?

I’d love to make a batch of these up as I never seem to have much food inspiration at ‘breakfast time’ so grabbing a couple of these on my way out the door to scoff down when I get hungry would be great.

When in a real hurry, I scramble two eggs, pour into a saute pan with a little EV olive oil, then add a big handful of packaged cole slaw mix (shredded cabbage,carrots), flip it, add some good Italian cheese, fold it and serve with a different veggie or salsa garnish. Yum.

That egg stuff is great, as long as you don’t have an intolerance to eggs. Then on top of that, there is diverticulosis. There is no fruit with seeds, no vegetables that has seeds, no nuts. Let me tell you it ‘s very difficult to not eat Caribs like you mdntined. Also, forgot to mention, lactose intolerant.

Yes, I’m sure that there are more people in our community that can help you with that. My son had pretty serious hypoglycemia symptoms that go away completely when eating primally. He’s 10 and burns through his food pretty fast so I try to restrict grains (big spikes) and sugar while giving him plenty of protien and fats along with the veggies and any fruit that he’ll eat. Don’t be afraid ot throw out the carbs like grains, beans, sugar, processed foods, etc. and then increase your intake of good fats (butter, coconut oil, fat from grass fed meats) as well as good protein sources. Enjoy, life is going to get better for you. You may feel as if you are going thru drug withdrawls if you eat a lot of grains presently, push through that, it goes away.

Thanks for replying so fast! My family has always been advocates for organic, locally grown food, and I’m so happy there’s a diet that does the same. I have been a vegetarian for nearly twenty years though (that’s how old I am!) but recently started eating meat. I do well with chicken and bacon, but I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to eat beef easily, so going fully primal is a bit daunting. Though I’m already cutting WAY back on grains, I doubt I’ll be able to give them up completely (I’m living in Japan for several months soon), so I’m starting with limiting them severely–the occasional slice of bread, noodles in soup, etc. I don’t think I’ve eaten any in the past couple days though and I already feel great (plus I ate the equivalent of an entire bunch of kale today at lunch!) I can’t believe how much more alert I feel; before I was always yawning and having headaches. I really hope I’ll be able to keep it up!

Wondering about some breakfast suggestions and protein suggstions, for me. I am allergic to peanuts, coconut, almonds, hazlenuts etc… as well as different kinds of seeds, anything like that. which can eliminate many things like home made protein bars etc… I’d love some suggestions.

Saute about 1 cup shredded cabbage in coconut oil. As soon as it starts to go soft around the edges, toss in one diced tomato and one chopped spring onion (=scallion), and stir it all together. Then whisk one egg with a good slosh of cream, and pour over the veg in the pan. When it’s almost set, turn spatula-fulls of it over (it breaks up – it’s more like scrambled eggs than an omelette, but tastes good in whatever-sized pieces), give it a little longer to set the other side, transfer to a plate and season to taste with salt and pepper. (White pepper gives it a bit more “bite” than black pepper, but either is good.)

or…

Make a big batch of “spinach” curry (look for a recipe for Palak Paneer, using whatever dark green leaves you like – the recipes usually say spinach, but I’ve made my last two batches with Swiss chard (aka silver beet here in Australia). Dollop a couple of serving-spoons-full in the bottom of a soup plate (without rice, obviously…), top generously with full-fat/Greek yoghurt, and top with a fried egg – YUM! 🙂

One of my favorites is a sort of egg and green bean hash. I roast green beans in the oven on the weekend with salt, pepper, and tons of dried minced garlic. Then I throw them in a bowl in the morning and microwave them while frying up some over easy eggs. Throw a big chunk of butter on top of the green beans and the eggs on top. This coats the green beans with richest most delicious egg yolk/buttery/garlicky flavor! I have it nearly every morning and it takes less than 10 minutes!